BP is meeting its commitment to Gulf Coast communities by paying legitimate claims stemming from the Deepwater Horizon accident. Within weeks of the Deepwater Horizon accident, BP began paying compensation for legitimate claims for damages resulting from the accident.
However, some dishonest people have chosen to take advantage of the claims process to submit fraudulent claims for reimbursement of fictitious losses as BP reports in the case studies below.
Public Report - data as of December 31, 2013
Payments Amount Paid
Total Paid -- Individual and Business Claims $11,050,642,969
Total Paid -- Government $1,464,072,366
Total Paid -- Other $328,905,384
Total Payments -- $12,843,620,720
BP has launched the Gulf Claims Fraud Hotline to help protect the integrity of the claims processes relating to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Anyone with knowledge of fraud or corruption should report it by dialing, toll-free;
1-855-NO-2-FRAUD (1-855-662-3728).
All reports can be made anonymously.
BP's call for an investigation into claims of possible improprieties by an attorney who was previously on the staff of the court-appointed claims administrator, resulted in the appointment of former FBI director Louis Freeh as a "special master" in the case.
The Justice Department also continues to win convictions or garner plea agreements from individuals and businesses that fraudulently sought payments from BP. More than 125 people across the country have been have charged with making false economic loss claims. Most recently, on July 9, Arturo Molina of Walton Beach, Fla. was sentenced to 6 months in jail after he pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with $14,000 in payments he received from the fund.
A fisherman submitted claims for lost income based on misleading documents and tax returns that were never filed with the IRS. He was actually unemployed the year before the spill. His claim included 8 unsigned affidavits.
Total Award: $357,000.00
A global consultant submitted a claim for lost income due to the spill for worldwide services that could not possibly have been affected by the spill. The company had record revenue and profits during the year of the spill.
Total Award: $510,000.00
A real estate agent in Brandon, FL, an hour from the Gulf, wants $80,000 from BP, reflecting a revenue dip in 2010 that "had nothing to do with the spill," the attorney candidly admits. (The culprit was the bursting Florida real estate bubble.)
Lawyers saw a shining opportunity in the broadness of the settlement terms. A Tampa, FL, law firm declares to potential clients that Tampa dentist or Dade City print shop with a dip in 2010 revenue may qualify even if it had nothing to do with the spill.
BP advises 4 colorectal surgeons from the same practice, and 300 miles from the spill, submitted claims for lost income. Their services do not have any apparent connection to the spill.
They were paid more than $60,000.
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